"Awesome Pea 2"

"Awesome Pea 2"
Reviewed by: Carless Yen
Platform: XBOX, PC, Switch, PS4
Publisher: SometimesYou
Developer: Pigeondev
Release Date: 6/3/2020
Price: 4.99

Awesome Pea 2 is one of those rare titles where the sequel is actually better than the original. The game meets you quite early with a nice level of challenge. Sure you can just beat the levels and move on to the next, but where is the fun in that? You really must collect all the treasures, and get your 100% completion. If you want the Achievements that is the goal. there are Achievements for beating each level with 100% treasure collection, that actually makes up the entire list. Each one you 100% you will be rewarded, so you know that is what you are going to do.Is that enough though? You know there should be more ways to spend your treasures in my opinion. Maybe some cool hats for your pea would have added a little cosmetic treat I think. I kind of wish there would have been a easy mode as well where if you collect a coin it counts. I think these $4.99 titles a lot of gamers just buy for the easy Achievements , and that would have opened up a market and maybe helped sell a few more copies. Awesome Pea is not a easy 100% completion , and that will turn away this market, Could have made normal or hard mode with this same challenge for the people like myself who love to grind a game. The people who enjoy getting the most time and fun out of a game. Both fan types could have been covered with this simple adjustment. There is still time before this games release so maybe they see this and factor that in.
        

      The entire game is so retro. It really has that gameboy look and feel. A lot of people will enjoy this aspect, but some will not. I think you know what to expect if you are playing this though. More than likely you played the first, and know what the developer had in mind for you. as far as developing I think they killed it with this one. It looks great and feels great. The controls are smooth and precise. I never experienced a single issue with this title. If i hit the jump button I jumped it's just that simple. It plays perfectly, and that is important because this game is loaded with traps and obstacles. I'm not joking about a challenge. If you want that 100% you are going to be grinding some levels over and over. So it can feel repetitive at times. I recommend playing it in doses instead of trying to do it all at once your first play through. I can also see this game being popular with speed runners as every level is timed. I could see many of them learning new patterns to collect and exit the levels at record times. I could see this being exciting to watch as well.

       Notice I said looked and played well and not sounded well. I hate to be that guy, but some of the soundtrack was annoying and loud. I found myself muting it a lot of the time. It wasn't bad don't get me wrong there were just moments in the songs that were distorted. I think they were trying to capture old PC sounds, and it turned out really harsh on the ears. I loved the music besides these moments it gave me a real retro feeling. I felt I was playing a missed title on the Gameboy collection at times. Then some annoying distorted parts would appear in the soundtrack, and really kind of make me want to turn the sound off. It was by no means a game killer though. The positives of this title far out weigh the negatives. I highly recommend this if you enjoyed the first one. I think this one leaps and bounds better than the original installment even with a few minor flaws. You are going to spend hours trying to 100% this game, and you won't regret it at all.

Pros:
Classic Game Boy look and feel
Challenging
Cool main character
Spot on controls
Really well designed levels

Cons:
Music can get annoying and distorted
Can be repetitive
Missed a market of Gamers the Achievement Hunters

Overall: 7.0
Awesome Pea 2 is one of those games that is developed really well, and actually out shines the first installment. If your looking for a real Challenge and a lot of content at a cheap price this is a can't miss. If you see 4.99 and think easy Achievements you will certainly be wrong this is a repetitive grind to capture those Achievements.

Video review below: